Feedback on using the installer

I am Kubuntu user who was very impressed by the Netrunner rolling release Live CD and wanted to install it and try it out for some weeks. I use many of your standard packages, and although they were so recent, I did not have to go to a ppa to get them. So, all in all, I really like your distro. Kudos!

I did however encounter some hiccups when I tried twice to unsuccessfully install Netrunner rolling release. Here is my feedback and two suggestions for improving the installer.

My system partitions reside on /dev/sdb and my /home partition on /dev/sda. I tried the following two methods:

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[]Manual installation with system / on /dev/sdb2 and /home on /dev/sda1. I chose “Keep” for the home partition because I wanted no changes to it. The MBR of /dev/sdb was chosen for the bootloader. During installation, the installer started re-sizing the 95369 MB home partition to 95369 MB. This was both a little scary and also very time consuming (circa 80 minutes), apart from seeming pointless to me. Might I suggest that in future, a partition with the “Keep” option ticked should be preserved with no actions taken on it by the installer, save to associate the mount point with it. For some reason, this installation could not be booted after it finished
[
]I then ensured that the BIOS on the PC recognized /dev/sdb as the first hard drive and /dev/sda as the second hard drive during the boot sequence. I then attempted a second installation, but this time simply chose the option to install Netrunner alone into a selected partition, again /dev/sdb2, rather than go for a full manual installation. This time, the installer on its own made the decision that the bootloader would be located at the MBR of /dev/sda. I had no choice, and did not proceed further. Might I suggest that the user be given a choice here, not unlike the full manual installation option, to select where to locate the bootloader.
[/list]I also have the following questions:

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[]Must I upgrade the system on the LiveCD before I attempt an installation? About three hundred odd packages were ready for upgrade. I have no prior experience with a rolling release, and did not upgrade before installation on the hard drive.
[
]My two other Kubuntu systems, which I wish to reside alongside Netrunner, in separate partitions on /dev/sdb, all use grub2 without any EFI. Will the bootloader from Netrunner be compatible with this setup? If not, what should I do to achieve compatibility?
[/list]
I await your replies before I attempt another Netrunner installation.

Many thanks.

Thanks for your input, I’ll pass your suggestions on to the Installers (Calamares) developers. As far as grub2 compatibility, yes, since we also use grub2, and since we do not install the Intel microcode by default, Netrunner Rolling will boot if added to another distributions grub2 instance, and is compatible with booting other distributions and Operating Systems as well. As far as updating, no updating the live session is not required, however updating your installation after is highly recommended. Being a rolling distribution you should run updates as often as possible, waiting too long between updates could cause you to need extra steps for the update process to succeed. In general updates to the system come in from upstream every 1 to 3 weeks.